The present invention relates to a structure for mounting a solid image pickup element, and, in particular, to a structure for mounting a solid image pickup element for use in a television camera or the like.
As well known, a color television camera is adapted to separate the light of an object from its optical lens system into R(red), G(green), and B(blue) components by means of a color separation prism, take out the respective components in the form of electrical signals by means of a solid image pickup element such as a charge coupled device or the like, or a camera tube or the like, process these electrical signals by means of an image signal processing circuit, and then project the image of the object on a television screen. The solid image pickup element such as a charge coupled device (CCD) is bonded or fixed by a threaded metal fitting to the color separation prism in such a manner that it is adjusted to correspond to the optical axes of the optical lens system and the color separation prism. After adjustment the CCD is bonded to the color separation prism with one or more spacers interposed between the light leaving end of the prism and the CCD to maintain a clearance therebetween. Conventionally, several kinds of plate-like spacers are previously prepared and a desired number of spacers are selected according to the size of the clearance. In this system, however, there are several problems to be solved. That is, several types of spacers must be previously prepared, and it takes time to select the spacers. In addition, the plate-like spacers are not able to provide a continuous clearance and thus the values of the dimension provided by the plate-like spacers are only arranged in a step-wise manner.